


Penmanship

by heart_made_fullmetal



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Angst, Bullying, High School, M/M, Violence, hidekane, kanehide - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2016-04-16
Packaged: 2018-06-02 13:17:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6567871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heart_made_fullmetal/pseuds/heart_made_fullmetal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hide and Kaneki are in high school where they have to deal with bullies</p>
            </blockquote>





	Penmanship

Waking up at 5 am has become almost a routine for Kaneki, quietly getting himself ready for the day while making sure he didn’t accidentally wake up the Asaoka household. Walking around quietly was tedious, and it took twice as long for him to leave the house. He already had his school work packed up, preparing it the night before so he wouldn’t have to struggle in the morning, and all he had to do was get dress and brush his teeth. The problem was getting to the bathroom and brushing his teeth but he managed, and by 6 am, he was out of the house; thank god Kaneki took his baths at night or else he’d definitely wake up his aunt and her family. Though he didn’t always do this every day, he always tried to whenever he had the chance, and luckily, he managed to do it today.

Not many were awake at 6 am, many parts of residential Tokyo; cemeteries were less gloomy compared to Kaneki's neighborhood this time of day, and it was an oddly calming time for Kaneki, not having to deal with people. He would occasionally see an adult who was going to work, and he greeted them respectfully like he normally would. Though at times, Kaneki found waking up so early a nuisance, it was quiet moments like this that made it all worthwhile. The sun was peaking over the horizon as Kaneki got to his school, his pace neither quickening nor slowing; it was still two and a half hours before his home period would start and another hour or so before other signs of life made their selves known and present.

The school building was dark, no light shining through the clear glass, giving off a gloomy impression and quality that would put off some including his best friend, Hide. The lack of illumination was relieving for him but it further displayed the private atmosphere that he desperately sought. The gates were never locked, so getting into the school was no problem for Kaneki, not having to deal with janitors made things go by smoother. His class was located on the 3rd floor, but Kaneki liked to make rounds around each floor level to make sure everything was in order. Despite it not being his job, Kaneki liked to make sure that the school was nice and tidy since it felt like it gave him a purpose; he even checked inside each classroom to make sure all material was in order, no missing desks or chair or anything crucial. He made the same rounds on the second floor and ended up cleaning a few smudged windows and picking up trashed missed by both students and janitors.

It was pretty clean from the beginning so it all took less than 30 minutes before Kaneki went into his class 3-A. Kaneki sat next the window at the very middle; Hide would joke that he narrowly missed being placed in the “protagonist throne” meaning the seat by the window in the very back. Hide sat a bit far from him as he was actually place in the “protagonist throne”. Kaneki placed his things on his desk before going to Hide’s to check if his desk was in order. Kaneki sometimes felt like he was mothering Hide too much, but he knew Hide worked better in an organized setting. Shuffling through his things, Kaneki stacked his notebooks in order of color and his books from biggest to smallest and aligned his pencils. He smiled fondly at the tiny action figures Hide kept in his desk, imagining Hide playing with them when he was bored, but Kaneki would make sure to lightly tease and scold him for having them instead of paying attention. As he finished, he looked out and saw in the distance that students from his school were already making their way here. The sun also began to shine fully through the windows, giving life to the once lifeless school. Kaneki thought of getting a few pages of his book read before more people started to show up since the ones coming to school now tended to be the more dedicated and least rowdy individuals. 

As he closed Hide’s desk, he noticed black smudges from a marker. Kaneki traced his fingers over them and began to rub to see if it would come off and sadly it did not, permanently damaging the desk. Kaneki would definitely scold Hide for writing on his desk. His scoffed it off and went to his desk and took out a new book he was starting, _Their Eyes Were Watching God, a_ recently translated book from a woman Harlem Renaissance writer who has been criticized by fellow African American writers. It caught Kaneki’s interest since it’s rare for these type of novels to be translated into Japanese.

It was 8am when more and more people began showing up to the school. Kaneki had a hard time concentrating since his classroom began to be filled with distracting noises from his classmates’ voices that got progressively louder as they tried to overpower each other as they spoke from one group to another. Kaneki sighed and pinched the corner of his eyes before looking at the characters in his book. His eyes would fall on lines but could not process them. It was about time for him to put it down since he didn’t like to carelessly read his novels.

“Shit. He’s here.” Kaneki looked up and saw a group his (trouble making) classmates looking over at him who only turned away when Kaneki took notice of them. They would sometimes verbally bully Kaneki and take jabs at him for always ready. Luckily, Hide would always be there for him since Kaneki had a hard time speaking up against people taking advantage of his quiet nature. Kaneki couldn’t help but tense up when they came closer to him, afraid that they would do something for him. Shadowing over him, a large classmate named Takaoka towered over Kaneki who was much smaller than him.

“Hey, Kaneki. Where’s Nagachika?” Takaoka asked him, his voiced sounded mocking and insulting.

“I-I don’t know…” Kaneki hated himself for sounding so small, quiet, and timid. It made him looks so weak and fragile.

“HUH? I thought you would know? It’s important for his owner to know where his mutt is.” Takaoka laughed at his own comment along with other people in the class who attempted to hide their amusement.

Kaneki, biting the inside of his cheek, attempted to keep himself calm. If there was one thing Kaneki hated, it was when people insulted Hide. They can say whatever they wanted to him, but when they cross the line with his friend, that was when things got too far, but Kaneki didn’t want to cause trouble right now so he made himself be quiet which pissed of his classmates

“Not gonna say anything?” He jabbed and he pushed Kaneki’s shoulders, almost making him fall out of his seat. Kaneki grunted and quickly grabbed on to his desk as not to fall over. “I know you know where Nagachika is. Tell us where the fuck he is?” This time Takaoka grabbed Kaneki’s arm, squeezing it hard enough that it could leave a bruise. Kaneki winced.

“L-Let go!”

“Tell us where Nagachika is!”

Without warning a hand smacked loudly against Takoka’s shoulder. Kaneki’s glassy eyes landed on the hands and followed it to the body attached to it, belonging to Hide.

“Hide!”

Hide had a large grin on his face but Kaneki can see an underlining irritation and anger behind it; it caused Kaneki’s stomach to twist into a knot.

“Nagachika!” Clearly Takaoka was happy to see Hide but there was definitely more to it than the happiness that Kaneki felt when he saw Hide.

“Yo, Takaoka. How about you let Kaneki go?” Gripping Takaoka’s shoulder more until he put Kaneki down who landed with a clunk.

“We’ve been looking for you,” pointing to his band of misfits who were now sneering at Hide. Takaoka threw an arm around Hide’s shoulder like they were longtime friends and lead him to his group. Kaneki heart raced; he was beginning to panic now because Hide was being taken.

“H-Hid-“

“Kaneki, it’s okay. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” Kaneki could only see half of Hide’s face who only smiled at him reassuringly. To breathe would only feel like Kaneki was drowning in misery. He held his breath as Hide was taken outside the classroom to somewhere else. Lacking courage, Kaneki stayed in his seat until class started, trembling the whole time. When class did start, Kaneki noticed they weren’t back yet and caused terror to emerge in ever nerve of his body. The one thing that crossed his mind is to inform his teacher about the exchange that happened not too long ago, but, before he could, Takaoka came into the class, laughing and jeering as they came in. They looked at Kaneki before taking their seats; the instructor ignored them since he was used to their behavior. Kaneki waited for Hide to come through but he didn’t. It felt like Kaneki was drowning, he had a hard time regulating his breathing because Hide wasn’t coming through the doors. “What happened to Hide?” repeated over and over in his head. His eyes began to water with tears of fright but it was put to a stop when, finally, Hide walked in. He looked over at Kaneki and smiled his signature smile, and Kaneki’s tears of fright became tears of relief. Politely, Hide excused his tardiness and took his seat. Kaneki eyed him to make sure Hide was alright. He could not find a mark on him and he seemed to be behaving normally. This observation let Kaneki relax, allowing him to focus on his classes.

It was lunch time when Kaneki got to talk to Hide about the incident.

“Did they hurt you?” Kaneki asked as he held and examined Hide’s face.

“I’m fine! I already said they didn’t do anything! You’re acting like my mom!” Hide gently slapped Kaneki’s hands away who made a move to lift up his school uniform. “Stop! You know I’m ticklish!” Hide laughed. “I’m okay, really. Thank you for worrying it, but it’s okay.” Hide smiled gently at him, his coffee colored eyes comforting Kaneki’s cool steel ones. Kaneki buried his head into Hide’s shoulder, muttering how Hide makes him worry so much, which caused the golden haired boy to laugh more.

Once the worry passed, Kaneki took out the lunch he bought on his way to school and began eating. Though it didn’t beat a freshly cook meal, a convenient store bento was still pretty good. Kaneki only took one bite before he noticed Hide didn’t have anything for himself.

“You aren’t going to eat?”

“Nah. I forgot my money, and I was planning on going home after lunch anyways.” Hide explained as he laid on his back and yawned.

“You’re going home so soon?” Kaneki inquired, a little concerned

“Yeah. Mom wants me back for something. I wanted to come to school first though.”

Oh. Okay.” He was a little disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to be with Hide longer but Hide had another life that didn’t revolve around him after all.

“Sorry, buddy,” genuinely sorry that he had to leave.

Kaneki walked Hide over to the school gate before waving him off. Kaneki already felt like the day would be more lonely and melancholy. Though, Kaneki was lucky those bullies didn’t bother him the rest of the day. Kaneki made it through everything with no problems and would occasionally receive a text from Hide, laughing at his humor and the funny pictures he would send; it felt like he never left.

When school was over Kaneki was going to head home but lingered and helped out teachers who asked for his assistance. All this distracting work kept him away from home ,which he appreciated. Near the end, when almost everyone was gone and the sun was going down, Kaneki was just about to walk through the gates before he remembered he left his book in his desk. In no hurry, Kaneki casually walked back to his classroom. Kaneki saw a couple of sports teams doing their drills on his way and remembered that Hide would sometimes when he was asked to participate; those were the few times Hide stayed longer than him.

When he walked in it was already dark and quiet similar to this morning. It took little time before Kaneki got his things when something caught his attention before leaving. He noticed there were smudges on his desk. Did Hide write on his desk again? Kaneki sighed and decided to clean it up before Hide got in trouble seeing as Kaneki would be the one to scold him. He got a rag and some cleaning spray and prepared to wipe Hide’s desk clean. But then, he saw the writing:

**“Die Nagachika” “Disappear” “You’re trash” “DIE DIE DIE” “Kill yourself” “Drink poison and die”** **“TRASH!” “DISGUSTING” “Do us a favor and jump off a building”**

Trembling hands only dropped the bottle and rag. Kaneki’s tears fell onto the writing, turning them black from the ink. Kaneki was sobbing now; what if Hide had read these? Kaneki could hold back his sadness and cried for what seemed to be forever. He cried and cried until his eyes went dry. With all the strength he could muster, Kaneki cleaned the desk until all the marks were gone even the smudges from his morning. His hands were raw from the sheer amount of force Kaneki put into the cleaning.

He left in a hurry now, wanting to get away as far as possible. A thought lingered in his mind, those smudges from before, did they contain the same messages as the ones he saw today? Kaneki prayed to every God he knew about that that wasn’t the case. He reached for his phone and dialed Hide’s number. It was about 4 rings in before Hide answered.

“Yo, Kaneki!”

Kaneki lips trembled hearing his cheerful voice, still remembering the horrible words written to him

“Hide!” was all that he said.

“That’s me,” he laughed and caused Kaneki’s heart to ache more. “What’s up?”

“Let’s meet up later tonight!” It was rare for Kaneki to initiate late night hang outs but he need to be with Hide right now.

“Eh? So forward! Kaneki, you’re making be blush!” Kaneki rolled his eyes at Hide’s comment but not without smiling. “But I don’t know…” Hide now sounded unsure if he could.,,

“Please…” Kaneki could tell that he sounded desperate now and he hated it, but he NEED to be with Hide. Hide was quiet for a bit before telling Kaneki he had to ask his mom first. Kaneki waited for Hide to come back to the phone.

“She said it O.K!” Kaneki could already picture Hide giving him the thumbs up. Kaneki face visibly lite up and told Hide to meet up at the park before they go out, Hide only agreeing and saying he’ll see him in a bit. Kaneki hung up and hummed happily as he walked to the park. He was going to make sure Hide had a good day.

* * *

Hide could only smile earnestly at his friend’s call. He had a feeling that Kaneki found out about the messages written to him on his desk. It happened almost every day though. Hide would always wash it off before leaving school. He left early today due to the pain in his torso and abdomen, dark bruises already beginning to take shape on his body. He was planning on going in early to clean it off before Kaneki got to school but it seemed Kaneki stayed longer than normal this time. Hide cursed himself for not being more careful. When he called Hide felt joyful that he could not refuse Kaneki’s request. But the only concern was Hide’s mother who didn’t want to let Hide go. They argued, his mother yelling at him for not taking his own health into consideration and how he should go to the hospital but Hide repeatedly refused causing his mom to storm out of the house in tears. After that, Hide told Kaneki he would meet up with him. He sat on the edge of his bed, breathing rigid and strained while sweating. His body hurt like hell and that bastard Takaoka didn’t hold back. He decided to become his punching bag as long as Kaneki was left alone. Getting up with a groan, Hide slowly gathered his things and walked to where the person he loved was waiting for him


End file.
